Read Online Night Squad by David Goodis - Free Book Online Page B

for inspection,” Corey said. He held onto the grin. “You wanna check on me, they got it all on paper at the Hall of Records. You can start with my birth certificate.”
      “I've already done that,” McDermott said. And something in his tone caused Corey to stiffen inwardly. McDermott seemed to sense the stiffening and his eyes narrowed just a little and he said, “You're thirty-four years old. You were born here in this city.”
      “So?”
      But McDermott went on with it. “Your mother's name was Ethel. She died when you were seven.”
      “So? So?”
      “Your father's name was Matthew. He died before you were born. He was a policeman.”
      Corey blinked a few times. He squirmed slightly. He felt a twinge very high on his thigh near his groin. It was only for an instant, it faded before he could wonder about it. But in that instant his eyes were shut tightly, his mouth tight and twisted with something close to pain.
      But now he grinned again at McDermott. He said, “Go on, I'm listening.”
      “He was a policeman.”
      “You said that already.”
      “I want you to hear it again. He was a policeman.”
      Corey mixed the grin with a scowl. “Whatever hurts you, Sergeant, you really got it bad.”
      McDermott smiled softly, almost tenderly. “I guess that makes two of us,” he murmured. And then abruptly the smile faded and his voice was crisp and technical. “All right, here it is. I heard the talk about that party tonight, with them two hoods barging in and showing guns and so forth. The talk is, you stopped the show and you did it very fancy. So that gets me to thinking—”
      “Forget it,” Corey said.
      McDermott didn't seem to hear him. “I'm working with six men, and I need a seventh.”
      “Just forget it,” Corey said. He stood up and started toward the door. Then something stopped him. He was thinking in terms of fifteen thousand dollars. Specifically he was thinking that in order to maneuver toward the fifteen thousand, he needed a certain tool.
      That certain tool was the badge.
      He heard the detective-sergeant saying, “You wanna be reinstated?”
      He nodded slowly.
      There was the scraping sound of wood against wood as McDermott opened a desk drawer. Then there was the clinking sound of metal hitting wood. Corey turned his head and saw it shining on the desktop. Before he knew what he was doing he reached for the badge and when he had it in his hand he stared at it.
      “And here's your card,” McDermott said.
      Corey took the card. He saw his name typed under the printed designation, police department, and stamped slantwise across the card was the lettering. It read “Night Squad.”
      Corey muttered, “You had me reinstated before you knew I'd say yes.” He looked at the detective-sergeant. “What made you so sure I'd say yes?”
      “I wasn't sure,” McDermott said. “I was just hoping you would.”
      “That grooves it sorta deep,” Corey muttered. “What this all amounts to, you got some special reason for wanting me on the squad.”
      McDermott didn't reply to that. He sat motionless for some moments; then got up from the desk chair and moved toward the window. He stood at the window with his back to Corey Bradford. There's something missing , Corey thought. There's something missing here, all right.
      The detective-sergeant turned and went back to the desk. He didn't sit down. He gazed at the desktop and said, “There's a job I want done. It's a big one. It's the biggest on our list. We been on it for years and we're nowhere. I'm thinking maybe you can handle it.”
      “Why me?”
      Again McDermott was quiet for a long spell. He gazed down at the desktop. Finally he said, “We know who we want but we can't move. We got